Bishojou Senshi Sailormoon Eclipse
by Lady Charon
Summary: Before, there were many. But now, only three of the sailor scouts remain and a prophecy has yet to be fulfilled. Four more must complete it, but can they with the obstacle that lays in their path?
1. HAJIMARU Beginning

"Oi, Fuyumiya!"  
  
Fuyumiya Yukiko looked up from her book, irritated that she had been interrupted. The brown-haired girl next to her desk smiled and straightened her deep gray skirt.  
  
"Maa! Watashi wa Kiba Hanako! My friends and I were going to the fair after school today. Want to come?" she asked the black-haired girl. Yukiko tied the braids on her hair and glared at her.  
  
"Iie," she replied, looking disgusted at the very thought of it. She glanced back toward her book, trying to hint at Hanako.  
  
"Are you sure? You seem so lonely. You're never with any friends," she pointed out.  
  
"That is no concern of yours. Leave me alone," Yukiko said, looking back down and resuming her reading.  
  
"All right... Just remember, if you do want to go, Wakaba-chan, Hoshi- chan, and I will be there most of the night!" Hanako said, turning to leave. The black-haired girl snorted in disgust and continued reading her Poe collection until the school bell chimed. Chairs scraped and groaned against the ground as the students stampeded out. Yukiko shut her book and slowly got to her feet, enjoying the pained look Tanaka-sensei gave her. She shuffled out the door, deliberately taking her time.  
  
Once outside, she continued to take her sweet time going down the two flights of stairs to her locker on the first floor. Yukiko had nowhere to rush to like the other students; she had no friends and didn't live with her family. Thus being, she had no pressing engagements. The girl sighed, perhaps a little wistfully, and continued on her way.  
  
"Oi! Oi!" She ignored the male voice floating after her. "Oi! Fuyumiya-san!" A pair of unfamiliar arms grabbed her around the waist.  
  
"Don't touch me!" Yukiko snarled, slapping his hands away.  
  
"Maa! I can't even give a hug to a deserving lovely lady?"  
  
"You're damn right you can't."  
  
"Oh well. Can you give me some directions to Aoyama Park? I'm going to the fair tonight," the blond-haired boy said sunnily.  
  
"Ask someone else. I don't know," she snarled irritably. "I just moved here after the queen was murdered. So leave me alone."  
  
"I see! Well, I've lived here since a little before that. Want to come with me to the fair?" The boy winked and tugged one of her braids. "It'll be fun!"  
  
"Didn't I just tell you to leave me alone?" Yukiko said in an icy tone.  
  
"Onegai?"  
  
"Iie! Leave!" She pulled away from him.  
  
"Have it your way, Fuyumiya-san. I'm free any night of the week, just in case you get lonely!"  
  
"And it's no wonder," she said dryly.  
  
He ignored this last comment and continued on.  
  
"Ore wa Kusanagi Kouji! You're lucky you were found by such a handsome, strong guy. Pretty girls shouldn't walk alone in Tokyo," he said, reaching toward her again.  
  
"Then go find one who is. Or you can do every female in Tokyo the favor of taking a long walk off a short cliff." Kouji smiled and waved it off.  
  
"Stubborn, huh? I love a challenge," he said, unable to take a hint.  
  
"Oi, I told you to leave me alone!" Yukiko took a turn down an alley and eventually shook him off behind some trashcans and piles of wet cardboard boxes. The girl squeezed sludge off of her uniform, cursing the garment and walking toward the rundown apartment complex where she lived.  
  
"Finally. Bakayarou." The girl crossed the vacant street, still brushing rubbish off of her uniform.  
  
Suddenly, she had to leap out of the way as a motorcycle roared its way right through the crosswalk without any warning. She wiped the blood off of her scratched legs, irritated at the driver. Yukiko shouted something at the driver and stalked off, resuming her way toward the shabby apartments. The motorcycle puttered up next to her, the driver flashing her a handsome smile. She blatantly ignored him and turned, walking through a lovely garden filled with pansies. The motorcyclist took his helmet off.  
  
"Now, is that any way to treat an old friend?" the young man asked with a smirk.  
  
"I have no idea who you are," she said coldly, ascending the stairs and rummaging for her keys as she went. He followed after her, trampling some pansies in the process and scraping them over the sidewalk.  
  
Yukiko finally fished out her keys and unlocked the door, walking in and tossing her bookbag on the ragged couch she had dragged off the side of the street with her now-dead best friend. She smiled at it a little and shut the door, shuffling off into the kitchen to make her dinner.  
  
"I have something to tell you, Musume-san," the voice of the motorcyclist said, quiet and slightly creepy. The girl whirled around with a spatula in hand to see him leaning against the frame of the open door. She also noticed that the door had no knob anymore.  
  
"Get out of my house before I call the police," she snapped, whacking his hand with a spatula. He pulled it out of the way, smirking again.  
  
"I'm afraid you would have no time to do that. I can move faster..." In a blur of brown and black, he appeared behind her. "...than you can see me."  
  
"I don't care. Leave a note or something and go away." She went back to cooking her dinner. He moved from behind her swiftly and left the apartment.  
  
Yukiko furiously stirred the canned soup that she poured into the pot of water, sending some of it flying onto the walls and stove. She turned the burner up to high and waited impatiently for it to finish cooking.  
  
After it finished, she poured it in a bowl and walked out to the couch.  
  
To her surprise, the young man lounged on the couch, one leg crossed over the other and his eyes closed. He yawned and opened one dark green eye.  
  
"Ohayo," he said sleepily.  
  
"Get off of my couch!" She took off one of her shoes and hurled it at him, narrowly missing.  
  
"I'm not going anywhere until I tell you what I have to say, you idiot," he said a little coldly.  
  
"Hn! I doubt you have anything worthwhile to say to me," Yukiko snarled, attempting to push his legs off the couch. He moved them briefly, only to set them back on her lap and stretch out.  
  
"Don't touch me!" She pushed his legs off and managed to spill a little boiling soup on them. The young man didn't seem to notice at all as he sat up and stared into her eyes. She stared right back, her left eye twitching in anger. He gave her a faint smile and leaned back onto the couch again. She grumbled something and began sipping what little of her canned soup was even left.  
  
"Now that I have your attention, Musume-san, I'll tell you what I have to say. My mistress wants a word with you, immediately."  
  
"Tell your mistress to shove off, because I don't want anything to do with her. I don't want anything to do with humanity in general. That includes you. Out."  
  
"Oh?" He sighed and sat up. "Why not?"  
  
"Because humankind is an idiot race. They've done nothing but give me hell," she said.  
  
"Bitter much?"  
  
"Hai."  
  
He slid a hand under her chin and tilted her face up to his. Yukiko felt her face burn a little bit.  
  
"What if you could get a little reward for your suffering? A miracle of sorts?" The young man gently nuzzled his cheek against hers. Yukiko blushed and pulled away.  
  
"I said don't touch me! But it's too late to undo anything. What's done is done," she answered irritably.  
  
"Come with me. I'll help you." He extended a hand. She simply glared at it and went to put her bowl up.  
  
"I don't want your pity," she said as she left. There was silence for a long while as she scrubbed the bowl in the kitchen.  
  
"It's not pity. It's concern for a fellow victim of injustice," he said silkily, blurring in beside her and watching her with a smirk.  
  
"Hn." She said nothing more and left the kitchen, tossing a dishrag at him.  
  
"Give it a little thought. I know you want your vengeance from those who have wronged you in the past," he said, putting his hands on her shoulders and massaging gently. She blushed and looked down.  
  
"Hn..."  
  
"Who has ever made you so incredibly angry that you'd hurt them?" His head rested on her shoulder.  
  
"Oniichan..."  
  
"Your brother? And who else?" he inquired softly.  
  
"Okaasama... Otousama..."  
  
"Go on..." He continued to rub her shoulders and keep his bright red eyes on her dark blue ones. He was basically hypnotizing her and causing her to take a trip into her anger and sorrow to fish out names of her tormentors.  
  
"Mikami... Yuri..."  
  
"And all those classmates?"  
  
"Not all of them." Part of Yukiko's mind was lured into his hypnotizing trick, while the other part was screaming at her to slap him across the face and tell him off.  
  
"Come... Is not even the mere thought of them enough to make you angry?"  
  
"Hai..."  
  
"I'll free you from your pain." He took her hand and grinned slightly. She nodded, now of her own free will. She was truly angry at her Oniichan, Otousan, and Okaasan, as well as her former friends.  
  
They had left her all alone.  
  
She resolved long ago that they must pay.  
  
And she had found the perfect way. 


	2. TANJOU NO HOSHI Birth of a Star

"So... You'll join us?" the young man asked.  
  
"Yes... But on one condition."  
  
"Name it."  
  
"Touch me again and I'll castrate you with my bare hands."  
  
"Deal." The young man took his hands off of Yukiko's shoulders. She crossed her arms, waiting for him to do something.  
  
Another lengthy silence passed between Mr. Motorcycle and Yukiko.  
  
"Well?"  
  
He unwrapped the blood-stained white bandages around his right hand and tossed them into a corner. This revealed a pentagram carved with a knife onto his palm. Yukiko raised an eyebrow and stared at it. He held his hand up toward the sky and darkness spiraled into his hands. It seemed to cloak the entire room in shadow, drawing the light from the kitchen and the light over the stove.  
  
"What the hell's going on?" Yukiko asked impatiently.  
  
"Hn," was the only reply she got to her inquiry.  
  
She stumbled forward a few steps, feeling herself involuntarily drawn to the darkness.  
  
"H... Huh?" She pulled against it, but both eventually went hurtling into a black void in the center of her living room.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"ITAI!" She landed with a thud on a cold stone floor. The girl stood and dusted her clothes off.  
  
"Welcome to Lady Lilith's castle, Fuyumiya," he said, leading her down a blood-red carpet dimly illuminated by winged creatures carrying silver flames in their talons. On either side of the long carpet were bones, some perfectly human and some horribly misshapen and bent out of place, but not broken. It was rather disgusting to think about what death the misshapen ones had died. Yukiko took great pleasure in doing thus as she strode behind him.  
  
"So where is 'Lady Lilith's' castle exactly?" Yukiko put air quotes around "Lady Lilith."  
  
"Hell," he replied calmly. The two came to a giant wooden door with a barricade pulled across it.  
  
"Hn! Then how come I've never seen it? I live in hell," Yukiko said, her usual smirk replacing the look of confusion on her face.  
  
"That is but your opinion, onnako. You have paradise compared to my life," he said coldly, pulling the barricade from the door and hurling it into the darkness.  
  
"That's impossible. Nobody's life could possibly be as bad as mine," she said.  
  
"Come on." He grunted as he pushed the door open.  
  
"Hn." The girl wandered in, crossing a threshold made of a human spine. She crossed her arms and leaned against the door.  
  
"Lady Lilith, I have returned with Sailorpolaris," the young man said, walking in a little further and bowing on one knee before a darkened throne. Two more of the winged creatures from the hall fluttered in and perched on the shoulders of a tall, pale-skinned woman. She was dressed in crimson and wore a black mantle around her shoulders.  
  
"I see. You have done well." She smiled rather eerily in the dull gray light and turned her head toward Yukiko. "Is that she?"  
  
"Yes, ma'am," he said.  
  
"What are you two talking about?" Yukiko demanded.  
  
"What is your name?" Lilith asked in her soft, calm voice.  
  
"Fuyumiya Yukiko. What did you want me for, anyway?" she snapped.  
  
"Because, my dear, you are part of an important prophecy," Lilith replied.  
  
"Me, important? What a bunch of bull," Yukiko snorted. (No pun intended.)  
  
"Just listen to her, Fuyumiya-san," the young man said, turning and glancing at her quickly. "Remember what I said about vengeance?" The smirk grew on Yukiko's face.  
  
"Yes, I do."  
  
"You can have anything you want if you help me. You can have money, love, revenge, anything, if you just do my little favor."  
  
"How little?"  
  
Lilith closed a fist and also her deep green eyes. A pale blue glow emanated from her hand, casting the room into sharp shadows. The bones on the floor looked like they were placed under a blacklight, and the white shirt the young man wore glowed. Yukiko stared, slightly fascinated.  
  
"Take this... and become Sailorpolaris." A winged creature floated off of Lilith's shoulder, took something from her palm, and carried it over to the girl. She caught it and examined it in the dim light. It was a small blue wand with a snowflake-shaped silver object on top, encased by a golden star.  
  
"What the hell is this thing and what am I supposed to do with it?" she asked, staring at Lilith with a 'you've got to be kidding me' look.  
  
"Why, it's your henshin." The woman said this as if it were quite obvious.  
  
"Henshin?"  
  
"When you feel threatened, raise it in the air and call the phrase that comes to mind. It will be of great use to you."  
  
"Another question. What exactly are you trying to do?" Yukiko asked, stuffing the wand into her jacket pocket.  
  
"I simply want the world to be equal. You know how it feels to be treated unjustly, to be called names and treated wrong simply because you are different. Would you like your children to be treated that way?"  
  
"I seriously doubt I'll ever have children, and I don't give a rat's ass about the rest of humanity," Yukiko said icily.  
  
"Well... Why did the one you loved die?" She blushed.  
  
"Hey, how do you--"  
  
"I know everything, Miss Fuyumiya. Yamino Yorusuke-san died because the girl he loved found someone that was better than him. He was tortured by this, so he killed himself and left you all alone. You could prevent that from happening, should you ever find friends again."  
  
Yukiko said nothing.  
  
"Yukiko-chan, I'll be your friend. How would you like it if I died because I was treated so unfairly that I couldn't take it anymore?" the young man asked.  
  
"I wouldn't care, because I don't like you," she answered coldly. She advanced toward Lilith.  
  
"What would you have if you joined me?" Lilith asked.  
  
"I want humanity to pay for its injustice. I want the power to silence those who oppose difference and change. Can you do that?" Yukiko asked.  
  
"Certainly. That's the kind of person I want to help... One who would change the world," the lady in red said with a smile.  
  
"It's a deal, then."  
  
"Thank you very much, Miss Fuyumiya. I will make you happy beyond imagination once I change the world through the Eclipse."  
  
"Come again?"  
  
"The Eclipse... The gate to power is a lunar eclipse. My younger sister Nephrenia narrowly missed achieving her goal through one, but was destroyed by the power of Mangetsu. I need the four celestial bodies of them on my side... Shingetsu, Mangetsu, Taiyo, Chikyuusei, and Polaris."  
  
"Chotto matte, the North Star isn't part of an eclipse. It's just the moon, the Earth, and the sun." Yukiko's best subject was science.  
  
"Not in the scientific world. In the prophecy, it is. The Princess of Polaris is needed to speak the spell to forge the Eclipse."  
  
"I see." She turned to the young man, who was still bowing before the throne. "What part do you play?"  
  
"I am the Shingetsu no Knight, the carrier of the darker power of the moon and avenger of hatred," he said solemnly.  
  
"You people are all crazy."  
  
"Think whatever you like. Now go forth! Change the world and dissolve the hatred in it!" the dark queen said.  
  
In a whirl of black winds, Yukiko landed with a thud back in her own apartment. There was a second thud, and the Shingetsu no Knight landed next to her.  
  
"Out." She pointed at the door immediately.  
  
"No, I don't think so. I rather like it in here." He got to his feet and strode lazily over to the couch, flopping down and stretching out once again. Yukiko's left eye twitched in anger.  
  
"I'll have you arrested for trespassing, you stupid bastard! Get out of my house, NOW!" she ordered. He merely glanced up at her.  
  
"I'm trying to take a nap. I've had a long day, and I need to train you still," he said calmly.  
  
"Look here, Mr. Motorcycle, I have school tomorrow, it's late enough as it is, and I don't need a freeloading ass in here! I have enough trouble trying to support myself," she snarled, pulling the couch pillow from under his head and letting it hit the wooden arm of it.  
  
"Itai! Onnako, I have nowhere else to sleep." He swiftly drew a dagger from his pocket and pointed it uncomfortably close to her neck. She was careful not to even swallow, as even this would slit her throat.  
  
"Uhm..."  
  
"Now did you have anything else to say?" he inquired.  
  
"Yeah. What's your name, and when are you going to go out and get a job?"  
  
"I don't have a name."  
  
"Hn. Oyasumi." She shook her head and walked into her bedroom, mumbling incoherently.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Fuyumiya-sempai! You're late! Where have you been?" Hanako asked worriedly as the black-haired girl dragged in drowsily, braiding her hair.  
  
"Hn," she grunted, schlepping toward her seat and missing it as she tried to sit down. The class chuckled and snickered as she got back up and sat.  
  
"Thank you for gracing us with your presence, Yukiko," the teacher said dryly, marking her in the attendance book and turning to the board with a piece of chalk. Yukiko's head slowly slid from its position on her hand and onto her biology book.  
  
"Fuyumiya-sempai?" Hanako gently poked her with a pen. She stayed fast asleep, drooling on the book.  
  
"OI! FUYUMIYA!" a red-haired girl shouted in her ear. Yukiko immediately shot up, awake and alert.  
  
"God dammit, why did you wake me up?" she snarled loudly. The teacher cleared his throat and hovered over her, glaring angrily. She glanced up at him and chuckled nervously, swallowing hard.  
  
"Fuyumiya, no more outbursts! Detention after school." He stormed off, resuming his lesson at the front of the class.  
  
"Sorashirou, see what you did? I'm going to kill you!" Yukiko whispered, glaring at her.  
  
"You couldn't lay a finger on me!" the redhead hissed.  
  
"Fuyumiya-sempai, Sorashirou-sempai, just calm down... I'm sure Hoshi- chan is sorry about waking you up like that," Hanako said, trying to settle it down.  
  
"Nope! Not a bit," Hoshi replied, leaning back in her chair and putting her feet on the desk.  
  
"Sorashirou-sempai, that's not ladylike! Your panties are showing!" Hanako said, blushing and reaching to pull the skirt down.  
  
"Give it a rest, Kiba," Yukiko said, glancing up at the teacher.  
  
"But--"  
  
"Shut up!"  
  
"Fuyumiya-sempai--"  
  
"Shh!"  
  
There was silence for the rest of the class period between the three.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Yukiko-chan!" Mr. Motorcycle's voice called. The black and red bike purred to a stop next to her as she settled on the pavement next to the cafeteria to eat her lunch.  
  
"What do you want?" Yukiko snapped irritably, biting into an apple.  
  
"I want a word with you."  
  
"Well, you'll just have to wait. I have detention after school." She chewed another bite of the apple and swallowed.  
  
"It's about your training as Sailorpolaris," he said.  
  
"Hn." She threw the apple core toward the dumpster. It bounced off of the front with a soft clang.  
  
"I'll meet you after school in Aoyama Park," he said, kissing her on the forehead and kicking the motor to life. She blushed and hurled a balled- up empty lunchbag at him as he roared away. 


	3. HANA ZAKI A Flower Blooms

After Yukiko shuffled out of her detention, she wandered down the stairs and toward the little bus depot at the end of the street. She had no intention of going to meet Shingetsu no Knight at the park; she wanted to go home and take a nap.  
  
"Fuyumiya-san! What are you doing here?" Hanako asked, sitting next to her on the bench under the shelter.  
  
"Hn."  
  
"I'm going to deliver a letter for someone." The brunette blushed a little bit as she said this and held up a letter folded neatly and lettered in green ink to 'Kusanagi-sama.'  
  
"...Kusanagi?" Yukiko thought for a few moments and looked at Hanako, slightly disgusted. "That pervert?"  
  
"He's not a pervert... I've known him since primary school, and he's actually quite nice."  
  
"So, what you're saying is you have a thing for him."  
  
"H... Hai..." The girl blushed and squeezed the letter tight in her hand.  
  
"Disgusting," Yukiko said scornfully.  
  
"It is not! Love happens to be wonderful," Hanako defended.  
  
"If it's returned, it's peachy and dandy. But as long as you wait around, love is nothing but an empty, useless feeling."  
  
"Poor Fuyumiya-san. You came from a dysfunctional family, didn't you?"  
  
"The family of Mitsuru, Reiko, and Koichi functioned just fine. It was just me that was screwed," Yukiko snapped irritably.  
  
"Oh."  
  
As the bus pulled up, Yukiko stood and hurried to get away from Hanako, losing her as she sat at the back of the bus. A hand touched her neck, trailing up to her cheek and tilting it in the owner's direction.  
  
"It took you long enough," the soft voice of Mr. Motorcycle said.  
  
"I told you not to touch me." She slammed the heavy schoolcase down on his hands as they traveled lower.  
  
"Ow!" He rubbed his hands, smiling and shaking his head a little bit. "PMS, Yukiko-chan?"  
  
"Iie. I'm just pissed."  
  
"Oh? Why?"  
  
"It's none of your business," she said coldly. Yukiko turned and busied herself with the crossword puzzle on the back of the newspaper that had been left in the seat by the previous occupant.  
  
"Of course it's my business, you're my friend. Now tell me," he said, looking at her with interest.  
  
"Hn..."  
  
"I'll clean the entire house for the next week."  
  
"Deal." She said nothing more.  
  
"Well?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Aren't you going to tell?"  
  
"Hell no." She frowned for a moment, trying to think of the answer for 'a large tool used in farming.' "Dammit, that could be anything!"  
  
"Yukiko... You'll feel better if you tell someone, you know." She snorted in disbelief and wrote 'adze' into the column.  
  
"There."  
  
"You added a square," he pointed out.  
  
"Oh well." She continued scribbling in answers.  
  
"Another question. Who's this?" He pulled a framed picture out of his pocket and held it up. In it was a smiling Yukiko and a tall blond boy.  
  
"...Yorusuke-sama," she replied, with a slightly softer tone.  
  
"Yorusuke? I see that he made you happy. That's going to be my name now, because I want to make you happy, Yukiko-chan." He smiled and tugged her braid playfully.  
  
"Hn. You'll never be anything like him," she said coldly.  
  
"I'll try to be the best there is." The new Yorusuke kissed her on the cheek. She blushed and swatted him away.  
  
"How many times have I told you not to touch me?" Yukiko demanded.  
  
"I'm sorry, Yukiko-sama," he said dryly. He tugged the brake cord quite suddenly and stood up. Yukiko lurched forward out of her seat and onto the floor.  
  
"Ow! Dammit, you could have warned me!" she snarled.  
  
"Eh." He took her hand and pulled her to her feet.  
  
"Fuyumiya-san, wait up!" Hanako tagged after them as they got off of the bus.  
  
"I thought you were going to Kusanagi's house, Kiba," Yukiko snapped.  
  
"There's a shortcut through the park."  
  
"How very convenient," she said, looking disgusted.  
  
"I go this way every day, Fuyumiya-san..." Hanako trailed off and hurriedly left Yukiko and Yorusuke alone. She was afraid of anybody getting angry at her or, even worse, hating her. Hanako quickly glanced over her shoulder and saw that the two had disappeared. Maybe they weren't mad.  
  
"So... Are you going to tell me?" She sighed.  
  
"If I tell you, will you get off of my case and never mention it again?" Yukiko asked, sitting beneath a tree and glaring up at him.  
  
"Certainly. And you'll even have a cleaned house the rest of the week."  
  
"Fine. Well... My parents never fancied me much. They always ignored me and paid attention to Koichi."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Koichi. My older brother. Keep up, dammit! He had always been so wonderful and perfect." She looked disgusted even at the thought. "I never did anything to match or even come close to being praised as much as him. School, sports, everything I tried could never compare. And then, my friends Mikami and Yuri abandoned me to chase boys and do makeup. I never liked makeup, so I never joined them. So that's why I'm the psycho-bitch I am today." Yorusuke smiled.  
  
"Please pardon me." He pulled his hand back and slapped her across the face, hard.  
  
"Itai!"  
  
"This all happened years ago, am I correct?" She nodded, rubbing the red spot on her face and staring up at him hatefully.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"It's about damn time you've gotten over it and made new friends! So Mikami and Yuri were fucked in the head and didn't realize they had a great friend. Big deal! Move on! Your parents were, with all due respect, morons who didn't know they had a neglected daughter. You at least have one person willing to be your friend. And I'll never abandon you. All right? Understand?" He had knelt and shook her very violently as he said this.  
  
"Let go of me!" She jerked away from him and stared up at him, angry. "I don't want to move on because I don't like knowing that I'm going to be hurt, no matter what I do in life. If I have friends, they'll abandon me. If I fall in love, the person is never going to return it. If he does, he'll just abandon me in the end," she said sullenly.  
  
"Yukiko-chan..." Yorusuke sighed.  
  
"Now leave me alone." She turned so her back was toward him, fuming silently. He slid an arm down her shoulder.  
  
"I won't leave you alone. You're my friend. I care about you." Yorusuke smiled and kissed her on the cheek.  
  
"You'll leave me someday," she said darkly.  
  
"Yukiko, think about it. But for now, let's go and see what we can do with your training, all right?"  
  
"Fine." She followed Yorusuke as he strode deep into the trees, hands in his pockets and walking with a slouch. She stood and followed him quickly, wanting to get it over with quickly.  
  
"Hey, isn't that your little friend from the bus?" He paused and looked over through a small clearing. Yukiko nudged him out of the way and looked.  
  
About fifty feet away, Hanako stood waiting next to the fountain. She was smoothing out her curly hair and straightening here school uniform, blushing and fidgeting nervously.  
  
"Let's get closer." Yukiko grabbed Yorusuke's wrist and dragged him closer, hiding behind a tree.  
  
"I thought you didn't care about her."  
  
"I don't. I just want to see her dreams smashed like glass when he rejects her."  
  
"Who's 'he'?" Yorusuke asked.  
  
"Shut up!" She clamped his jaw shut and listened to Hanako talking to herself. She kept reading over her letter.  
  
"Oh... I hope Kusanagi-sama likes this... Let's see... 'Dear Kusanagi- sempai, remember me? Kiba Hanako desu! I wanted to ask you whether...' This letter is stupid. Maybe it's not worth it. Maybe he'll never care." She paced around the fountain, worrying.  
  
"Oi! Kiba! You said to meet you here?" The boy appeared, grinning as usual. He leaned against a tree and flashed a handsome smile at the girl. She blushed.  
  
"I... I..." Hanako stammered.  
  
"You..." Kouji said, smiling. He tugged a stray curl of her hair, staring into her eyes.  
  
"I... wanted to give you this!" She reached into her schoolcase and handed him a black notebook. "You dropped it earlier." Hanako blushed and backed away nervously.  
  
"Oh. Thanks!" Kouji gave her a quick hug and eyed the girl that walked round the fountain and toward the hot-dog vendor's. Hanako sighed and shook her head, rubbing her temples.  
  
"Damn my shyness..." she sighed. It was the only thing holding her back from convincing Kouji to pay attention to her for more than twenty seconds. To do that, she would probably have to streak buck-naked through the halls screaming 'Kusanagi-sama!' Of course, she would never go to that extreme, but the thought of it briefly floated through her mind.  
  
"Oi! Kiba!" Yukiko leaned against a tree, smirking. The brunette quickly hid her sorrow and brightened, feeling like such a liar.  
  
"Nani, Fuyumiya-san?" She forced a smile.  
  
"How does it feel, your heart being torn to shreds like that?" Yorusuke's hand reached out to cover Yukiko's mouth, but she smacked it away yet again.  
  
"Yukiko-san..." Hanako's green eyes started to tear up. She couldn't believe that the girl was being so insensitive!  
  
"It's okay. Same thing happened to me." Yukiko, feeling unusually human, sat on the edge of the fountain and crossed her legs in a boyish manner.  
  
"You were in love once?!" Hanako asked, clearly shocked.  
  
"Once. He never returned it, of course. He had his heart broken by somebody even bitchier than me and committed suicide, even though he still had me. Foolish, really," the black-haired girl said, swiping a goldfish out of the pond and letting it flop back in.  
  
"Oh?" The brunette had no idea what else to say.  
  
"Of course, I can have him back. You can have your Kusanagi-sama as well."  
  
"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" Hanako blushed lightly and looked down. Yukiko smirked.  
  
"Oh? What about our little discussion about love? You want Kusanagi- baka to pay attention and love you, don't you?" Yukiko idly tugged the ribbon on the end of her braid.  
  
"Yes... But I want him to love me because of me. I don't want to change," Hanako said, blushing a little more.  
  
"You don't have to change." Yukiko gave her a rare smile.  
  
"I don't? But Kouji-sama likes women who--"  
  
"Not another word. You know, I met a woman who could grant any wish a few days ago," she said casually. Hanako stared at her as if she were out of her mind, as did a few passerby.  
  
"Fuyumiya-san? I'm worried..."  
  
"I'm perfectly sane, Hanako. I just want to help a friend in need. Really." For once, Yukiko wasn't lying. Hanako had been nice to her, so she felt the strange obligation to do her one favor in return.  
  
"I'm your friend?" The brunette smiled, slightly cheered by this notion.  
  
"Yeah. Now follow me!" Yukiko grabbed her hand and tugged Hanako along toward the bench where Yorusuke lay with a paper as a blanket.  
  
"Done, Yukiko-chan? Who's this?" He smiled and nodded toward the brown-haired girl.  
  
"Kiba Hanako. She's a classmate of mine who needs a little help from Lilith." She didn't bother to add 'Lady' or any other polite title. To Yukiko, Lilith was just another person who had a promise to keep.  
  
"I see. Hanako-chan, would you like to have a wish granted?"  
  
"Yes!" Hanako nodded, confused but willing to do anything for love. She smiled, no longer feeling depressed. She knew her friends would take care of her...  
  
Wouldn't they? 


	4. YUKI NO ARASHI Storm of Snow

"So, Fuyumiya-san, who is Lilith?" Hanako inquired. Yukiko had finished explaining about her 'friend,' Lilith.  
  
"I just told you, baka! Don't you people listen?" Yukiko snapped irritably.  
  
"I listen. It's just not clear to me."  
  
"Baka."  
  
"Yukiko-chan, calm down," Yorusuke whispered, elbowing her in the stomach. She elbowed him right back.  
  
"Hurry it up!" she snapped.  
  
"All right. Don't fight, kiddies." Yorusuke sighed and took Hanako's and Yukiko's hands. The world's colors and shapes blurred and spun as they were transported to Lilith's little underground castle.  
  
The pale woman looked up from her throne, where she had been flaking off little chips of the skulls that made her armrests.  
  
"Shingetsu no Knight, Sailorpolaris. To what do I owe this visit?" Lilith smiled at her two servants and the new girl.  
  
"Look, this is Hanako. She wants your help. There. I've done my good deed for the day." Yukiko leaned against the doorframe made of humanoid ribs as Hanako advanced, bowing politely. The brunette cleared her throat nervously and spoke, stammering a little.  
  
"A-ano... W... Watashi wa Kiba Hanako..."  
  
"What a lovely name. How may I help you, young lady?" Lilith smiled warmly. Hanako blushed and stammered out her problem.  
  
"W-Well... Th-there's this guy..."  
  
"An unrequited love?" She nodded, feeling like such a fool. Lilith chuckled musically, smiling and looking rather interested.  
  
"Fuyumiya-san said you could help me. I'll do anything for you in return," Hanako said with a smile, all nervousness forgotten.  
  
"I only ask for one favor, and that is that you accept your destiny," Lilith said, sliding a hand into her robes.  
  
"My destiny?" Hanako repeated, blinking and squinting at the small object the dark queen drew out.  
  
"Your destiny as the Princess of Earth, Sailorearth." Lilith gave the green and brown compact to a slightly cheerier little winged being. It looked like a miniature lion with a giant mane and bat wings.  
  
"Why do you want me to accept something that doesn't exist? It is my firm belief that the Sailorsenshi were merely myths made up to calm frightened children," Hanako said rather quickly.  
  
"Actually, she's kind of right. How do we know you're not giving us costume jewelry and telling us it's magic? Show me some proof or no deal on this prophecy thing," Yukiko said, after having thought it over.  
  
"I was to be a Sailorsenshi myself once, the Sailor of Dark Moon. My mother, Nephrenia, worked to help me, but her pleas to the Moon Queen Serenity were denied. All because Imperial Queen Serenity turned her away for being a dark being. It wasn't her fault. You see... That is why I want to help." Lilith smiled.  
  
"This is all a load of crap," Yukiko snarled.  
  
"Yukiko! Mistress Lilith is not lying." Yorusuke elbowed her sharply in the side. She elbowed him back and stuck her tongue out.  
  
"People can't live on the moon. Nice place, but there's no atmosphere there. You can't breathe," Yukiko said.  
  
"I did... Many years ago..." Yorusuke said quietly. He put his hand under his shaggy bangs and lifted them up to reveal a black crescent moon within a pentagram.  
  
"Hmph."  
  
"I think I'll try to get Kusanagi-sama with my own means. Thank you for your offer, Lilith-sama." Hanako bowed politely and turned to leave.  
  
"Suit yourself... But I shall always be here to help." Lilith smiled in a rather sinister way as Hanako left the room.  
  
"Sucks for her. I think I'll stay until I find a better way to die," Yukiko said darkly.  
  
"No need for that." Yorusuke smiled and kissed her hand politely. "I'll keep your mind off of death until its proper time, late in life." Yukiko turned red and narrowed her eyes at him.  
  
"Do as you please. Now, if you will, I have business to attend to." Lilith waved her hand at them with a smile. Yorusuke leaned on Yukiko's shoulder.  
  
"Ready to go?" the knight inquired.  
  
"Ready to be castrated?" She made a motion that made him back off quickly. Yorusuke smiled.  
  
"Not yet. Come, come. Let's look for Hanako." And so he led her down the bone-decorated hall.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Kiba, dammit, where did you go?!" Yukiko shouted, pushing open a door and looking inside. The only thing inside was empty, gray space.  
  
"Hanko?" Yorusuke called. It echoed off the walls of the hall and down deep in the darkness. A soft cry echoed back, distant. "Do you think that's her, Fuyu-chan?"  
  
"Sounds like it. Where do you suppose she is?"  
  
"By the sounds of it, she found a way to the Crystal Ruins."  
  
"...The what?" Yukiko asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"The Crystal Ruins used to be in your world, but they sunk under the ground when evil spirits infested them, searching for the Silver Moon Crystal."  
  
"You lost me."  
  
Silence reigned as Yorusuke broke into a run down the hall. Yukiko followed him, tripping over the occasional spine and rib. She wasn't very athletic at all, and running down a dark hall covered in human remains probably wasn't the best thing for her to do. Yorusuke was quite fit and ran the length as if it were in broad daylight on a rubber track.  
  
"Yukiko, if you don't hurry up, one of you are going to be eaten," Yorusuke said, pausing and looking back over his shoulder at her.  
  
"I don't care."  
  
"Come on." He reached for her hand, but she pulled it away and started trotting after him, panting. Yorusuke smiled and shook his head.  
  
However, Yukiko stopped to rest against the wall. She was tired. Yorusuke was far ahead; she couldn't even hear his footsteps anymore. Just as well, she thought, because now she was alone. The girl closed her eyes and undid her braid from its ribbon, curling up and hoping to drift off to sleep. It was actually more peaceful here in Lilith's palace than in her own apartment complex. It was also strangely relaxing here.  
  
But the relaxation didn't last long. Hot breath pushed against Yukiko's eyelids as she tried to sleep. She didn't think she wanted to open them and see what was breathing on her, but she did anyway.  
  
Staring her in the face was a rather large beast. Beast was the only fitting term, as nobody could have identified the unspeakably disgusting creature foaming at the dagger-fanged mouth before her. Yukiko figured it was her fault for thinking she could take a nice, long nap in the middle of a demon queen's hallway.  
  
"Who are you that trespasses upon Queen Lilith's land?" it snarled, spraying white foam in her face. Yukiko started backing away slowly. The only things she had to fight with were her hands (which would do no good) and the little blue compact Lilith had given her days ago. She grabbed for it in the pocket of her school uniform. She didn't know what good it would do. The beast growled and circled her suspiciously, its fiery red eyes fixed on her hand.  
  
"What have you got?" it snarled, snapping its teeth at her arm. Yukiko yelped and ducked out of the way.  
  
"Nothing!" she lied. What was she going to do with it? Throw it and hope its forehead was a vulnerable spot? The beast growled and pounced at her, pinning one of her arms against the wall. It would figure it would be the one with the only feasible weapon. Sure, it wouldn't do much good, but it was better than having her arms torn off as soon as she swung at the creature.  
  
"You lie, little girl!" Its swordlike claws dug into her arm, drawing blood. She welcomed the blood that stained her sleeve. Death was the only thing that was going to happen, and there was nothing she could do about it.  
  
But a phrase came to mind as the blood flowed. The creature's lips curled back in a foul smile as she closed her eyes and squeezed the compact in her fist. It was worth a shot. What had the Senshi done in the stories her aunt had told her? She raised her hand up as far as she could (about an inch upward) and took a deep breath.  
  
"Polaris Cosmic Power, Make Up!" she shouted. Yukiko felt the pressure lift from her arm as blue light flooded the corridor. The beast shrunk back from it. Suddenly, snow began to blow in the wind, surrounding her body. It whirled around her, freezing her solid. The school uniform shattered as the ice split open a few second later. Snowflakes stuck to her cold skin, but in the form of a Sailorsenshi's fuku. The wind calmed a moment later, revealing Yukiko to be dressed in a blue, gray, and black fuku. It was the birth of Sailorpolaris.  
  
"What the hell?" the beast snarled, circling around her once more. "I'm afraid it won't aid in your survival in any way." It reared back its head and puffed itself up. Sailorpolaris looked down at her feet.  
  
"Dammit!" she cursed. Blue high-heeled shoes were worse than her school shoes for running.  
  
The beast spat out whatever it filled its mouth full of. It was a snot-green fire. She yelped and ducked. It very narrowly missed singing her hair. She didn't know what to do; she was afraid of fire.  
  
"OI!" Both heads turned to face down the hall, towards Lilith's throne room door. It was a young man with two brown fox tails swishing about his calves. He smiled.  
  
"I don't need your help," Sailorpolaris snapped. He started walking down the hall toward the monster and Senshi.  
  
"It looks like you do!" He glanced at the beast.  
  
"This is none of your concern, kitsune!" it growled, turning its attention to the boy.  
  
"He's right, fox," Sailorpolaris snapped. It prowled toward the boy, who laughed nervously and backed away down the hall. He bolted, leaving her alone in the middle of the labyrinth of corridors.  
  
"Fuyumiya-san! Are you all right?" Hanako squealed, popping up to her right, flanked by Yorusuke. He seemed worn out.  
  
"I'm fine," she said icily, getting to her feet.  
  
"I guess the stories about Sailorsenshi are true. I see I was wrong." Hanako smiled at her friend. Yorusuke smiled as well.  
  
"You look very cute in that."  
  
"Shut up!"  
  
_______________________________  
  
Special thanks to Kitty for Yukiko's transformation scene! 


End file.
